Troy High School marching band member J. Howard celebrates the band’s superior rating Saturday, Sept. 11, at the Tippecanoe Marching Band Invitational.
Submitted photo | Troy City Schools
TIPP CITY — The tradition continues for the Troy High School marching band.
Since the Ohio Music Education Association held its first state competition in 1980, only three bands have qualified for state every year.
Troy is one of those three bands, and kept that streak alive Saturday night by earning a superior rating (an overall rating of I) at the Tippecanoe High School Band Invitational, according to a Troy City Schools press release. That earned Troy the opportunity to compete at state the weekend of Oct. 26-27.
“Obviously one of our goals every year is to make it to state and keep that tradition alive,” Troy City Schools Director of Bands Molly Venneman said in the release. “These kids have been working very hard all summer to get to this point, and it’s nice to see their hard work and efforts rewarded. Sometimes in the middle of July, when we are practicing for 15 hours a day at band camp, it may be hard to see the final destination. But these kids have remained very focused all through the summer and into the fall. As a staff, we couldn’t possibly be happier for these kids.”
In addition to earning the superior rating at the Tippecanoe Invitational, Troy also was named reserve grand champion, best overall visual, outstanding percussion in class AA and second place in class AA.
“Our kids had a great night,” Venneman said. “It wasn’t an easy night to perform. It was incredibly hot, and we have a lot of props to push around and do a costume change in the middle of our show. But our kids were able to push through all of that and give an outstanding performance.”
Troy will take its show, “Inside,” to two more competitions before state. Troy will be performing at the Marion Local Invitational this Saturday, Sept. 28, then perform at the Piqua Invitational Oct. 12. The band will be off Oct. 5, the night of Troy’s homecoming dance. Additionally, the band will be performing at the Troy football team’s games the rest of the season.
At state, Troy will be looking to again earn a superior rating, something it has done every year since 2000.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done,” Venneman said. “We cannot afford to coast. We have to keep working just as hard or harder to get ready for state. We have high expectations for ourselves every year, and we are willing to put in the work to accomplish those goals. It’s never easy, but it’s always worth it.”
